Admiral has wind in its sails

INVESTORS climbed aboard Admiral yesterday as a wellknown City broker gave the insurer a big thumbs-up.

The stock gained 35p to 1054p as Bank of America Merrill Lynch gave Admiral a double upgrade, to a “buy” from “underperform”.

Analysts at the bank attributed their upbeat stance to Admiral’s industry-leading dividend yield of 9.1 per cent.

They said Admiral was “an income rather than growth stock” in an environment where neither bonds nor cash are achieving high returns.

City broker Tullett Prebon indicated things are still tough in financial markets as it noted subdued market activity and partly blamed Hurricane Sandy for a 10 per cent fall in revenue in September and October.

Shares tumbled 22p to 240p.

Gas explorer and producer BG Group benefi ted by 13p to 1057p as Australia’s Macquarie Bank said liquefied natural gas trading would rise more than 4 per cent a year between now and 2020.

The Royal Bank of Scotland dipped 4¼p to 270p and Lloyds Banking Group eased ½p to 43½p

Shopping mall owner Hammerson lost ½p to 467½p as it sounded a note of caution about the overall economic outlook in Britain and Europe.

The FTSE 100 Index closed 6.37 points adrift at 5769.68, with Barclays leading the index lower by 6½p to 230¼p after the Serious Fraud Office predicted major developments in its probe into Libor interest rate rigging soon.

The Royal Bank of Scotland dipped 4¼p to 270p and Lloyds Banking Group eased ½p to 43½p.

Anglo American retreated 18p to 1866p as its platinum business offered to start wage talks before agreements expire next year aimed at getting more than 30,000 strikers back to work in South Africa.

National Grid, which provides power in New York, spluttered 11p to 689p as city governor Andrew Cuomo said damage to electricity systems from Hurricane Sandy highlighted the need to change the structure and regulation of power utilities.

Elsewhere, Finnish nickel miner Talvivaara dropped 18p to 103½p as ongoing repairs to a water leak at a mine in eastern Finland prevented it from re-starting production.

Builder Galliford Try lifted 9½p to 734½p on news of a 7 per cent increase in sales to £460million after an encouraging autumn.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up just 4.07 at 12,815.39 despite news that the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence gauge exceeded hopes in November.